Utilization of distillery slops jointly with wood sawdust or other vegetable waste or carbonaceous materials



Patented May 3, 1932 PATENT ADOLPH PLAGEK, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

UTILIZATION OF DISTILLER-Y SLOPS JOIN TLY WITH WOOD SAW'DUST OR GTHERVEGE- TABLE WASTE OR CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS No Drawing. Originalapplication filed December 28, 1928, Serial No. 329,079. Divided andthis application. filed January 27, 1931.

This invention aims to solve the economical problem of utilization ofthe distillery slops by combining their treatment with the treatment ofsuch other materials and by means of such a common process which, byvirtue of such a combination, will furnish valuable products in a farmore economical and advantageous way than if they were treatedseparately.

This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No.329,079, filed December 28, 1928.

This invention specifically relates to the method, by which a driedmixture of concentrated distillery slops from cane-sugar or beet-sugarmolasses, or from other origin, and Wood sawdust or other shreddedvegetable residues, like bagasse, straw, hydrolyzed sawdust, ligninsubstances, or other carbonaceous matters, are utilized as a fuel, or asa raw material, which is subjected to the process of destructivedistillation in View to obtain valuable by-products. My method may beemployed in a more or less mechanically elaborate process withoutmaterially changing its object. It may be exemplified as follows Thedistillery slops, which have been concentrated to a sirup, are mixedwith wood sawdust (untreated or treated by extraction, hydrolysis, orotherwise), or with other above mentioned carbonaceous materials, insuch proportions as to form a plastic mixture which, when compressedinto briquettes or other suitable forms, is transformed by drying intosolid, uniformly sized pieces of materials. This material is verysuitable to be utilized as such as a fuel in common fireplaces, or ingas producers, or to be subjected to the destructive distillationprocess in the retorts. The products of this destructive distillationmay be recovered in a similar way like in any wood distillation plant,whereby charcoal, combustible gas, and condensed liquor are recoveredand treated for further utilization. By this method, besides the usualproducts of the destructive distillation of wood or of other involvedcarbonaceous materials, valuable products (derived mostly from theslops) are obtained, viz., a high Serial No. 511,654.

amount of nitrogen compounds like ammonia, pyridine bases, methylamines,etc. The resulting charcoal may be utilized as a fuel, or it may beground into powder from which the soluble constituents are removed byleaching with water. This leached powder, when mixed with some suitablebinder, like starch, pitch, molasses, or other, is compressed intobriquettes and dried. In this way, a high grade briquetted fuel, besidesa solution of soluble salts, and especially potassium salts, isobtained.

The same result, however, may also be attained without the preliminarycompression of the original mixture into briquettes. Thus the processmay be simplified by preparing the mixture of the concentrated slopswith the other involved materials in a loose state, which, on drying,gives a solid material in lump or granular form. This material iscarbonized in the retorts, which may be designed for a discontinuous ora continuous process of destructive distillation, whereby the charcoalin lumps or in a granular form is obtained, which is then leached withwater, compressed into briquettes with the use of a suitable binder andfinally dried.

If the charcoal briquettes are not desired as a finished commercialproduct, the carbonization and combustion of the original driedbriquetted mixture may be performed in one operation, by employing itdirectly as a fuel in a gas producer, with the provision of means torecover all valuable byproducts, including ashes, rich in potassium andphosphorus. By this means, especially when the Monds process is applied,a more thorough recovery of nitrogen compounds is also effected.

My method does not aim principally to use the concentrated distilleryslops as a mere binder in agglomerating solid particles of vegetable orother carbonaceous materials, but to bring the slops into such a solidstate and such a convenient form as to eliminate many difficulties inhandling, involved in their utilization as a fuel, or in theirdestructive distillation, with the subsequent recov cry of all possibleby-produets. I have found that a far larger amount of concen-- tratedslops may be used than that necessary for the application as a merebinder in the briquetting of the above mentioned vegetable andcarbonaceous materials. Thus, for 5 example, the concentrated distilleryslops from sugar-cane molasses may be advantageously mixed with woodsawdust within very broad limits, viz., in proportions (by weight) ofthe slops corresponding to 1 to 10 parts of original molasses used inthe fermentation to 1 part of wood sawdust.

Another advantage of my method is that the destructive distillation ofcombined material, such as distillery slops and wood residues or othervegetable waste, furnishes a composition of condensible liquidwhichpermits a more economic recoveryof certain by products. Forexample, the'more economic recovery of methanol as a subsidiarybyproduct may be effected with the simultaneous recovery of ammonia andother nitrogen bases. This is especially true for the kinds of woodwhich, when subjected alone to a destructive distillation process, yieldsuch a 5 small percentage of methanol as would not justify its recovery.

I am aware that prior to my invention the distillery slops as well as(the sawdust and other vegetablematerials have been utilized 3separately as fuel and in the destructive distillation in view torecover all above mentioned by-products. I, therefore, do not claim sucha process broadly, but what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent V The method of producing high grade charcoal fuel,consisting in preparing a mixture of the concentrated distillery slopswith wood saw-dust, ground vegetable waste and other 40 carbonaceousmaterials, drying, carhonizing and grinding residue into a powder,leaching from said powder water soluble constituents, mixing leachedresidue with a suitable combustible binder, compressing into briquets,and drying. I I i i i In testimony whereof, Iaffix my signature.

ADOLPH PLAGEK.

